Most common atomizers work by nebulizing liquid compressed by a pump, and then forced through one or more injectors with a limited calibre, creating resistance to current. Upon exiting the injector, there is a sudden disappearance of the pressure around the liquid, which therefore explodes into micro-aggregates.
The following are systems that are apparently similar to ours, but which actually have a different function:    U.S. Pat. No. 3,722,831 granted on Mar. 27, 1973    U.S. Pat. No. 2,650,804 granted on Sep. 1, 1953    U.S. Pat. No. 6,177,052 B1 granted on Jan. 23, 2001
U.S. Pat. No. 3,722,831 is only a mixer and does not claim an atomizer function. The blades of the rotating rollers do not, or only slightly enter the circular range of action of the blades from the adjacent axes. When the fluid is in the circular inner area of the blades, and not reached by the blades of the adjacent axes, the blades move in a circular motion. This limits the disintegrating action of the blades and leads to the formation of an area free of liquid fluid inside the blades as a result of centrifugal force.
The marginalization of the fluid to the edges of the blades are described as a phenomenon necessary for the mixing process, with a “funnel-like movement” of the material, which means that there is an accumulation on the outside and a rarefaction on the inside of the areas of rotation. Claim 3 mentions the overlapping of the circumferences described by the outer edges of the instruments housed in adjacent containers. As one can see from the drawings, the overlapping part is only a tiny percentage of the radius of the blades (see FIGS. 1, 3 and 14). The forced passage of a gas at a speed higher than the speed of liquid, it would pass through an area with the least resistance, which is, precisely the internal area with little or no liquid fluid. In this manner, it would escape interaction with the liquid fluid. The circular motion induced by the blades drives the centrifugal force of fluid from one blade to the range of action of the adjacent blade, and vice versa. The friction between the two currents causes the mixing action, which is, precisely, the function claimed by this patent (see FIGS. 4-5).
Thus, no atomizing action takes place. The presence of the blades which are broad flat surfaces, suitably tilted facilitate the rotation of the fluid, represents an obstacle to a possible rapid and continuous axial current.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,650,804 specifically claims producing latex foam. In this device, the claimed and effective function is that of a mixing machine. There is no real atomizing action. In fact, this action is neither claimed nor described. The problem of the need for a gaseous current to rapidly flow through the foam and interacting is not even taken into consideration.
One can find two coaxial rotors with four arms distributed in a cross shape at the ends of the axes by joining the corresponding ends of the two rotors which are placed longitudinally parallel to the direction of the flow of the mixture. The action of these axes is translated into a linear slashing action, parallel to the current. Such action tends to generate columns of fluid, separated only longitudinally. Transversal slashing action cannot cause a repeated fragmentation of fluid flowing perpendicularly. The level of nebulization obtained in this manner would be very limited. In the modified form (see FIGS. 51-65, and 71-72), similarly to the present disclosure, are rollers with rods perpendicular to their longitudinal axis, and therefore perpendicular to the flow. It is necessary, however, to point out that the only roller that rotates in an active and synchronous manner with the traction with the crosses is the central roller (see column 10, lines 14-16).
The transmission with gears (see FIGS. 26-27) are used between two or more functional units, each equipped with a central axis that rotates with the crossed arms and some peripheral axes that are free on the arms. Two functional units are joined in FIGS. 71-72. The two, three or four (depending on the version) peripheral rollers ((38) on drawing page 15; (28) on drawing page 16; (48) on drawing page 17; (54) on drawing pages 19 and 20) and the central roller ((33) on drawing page 15; (26) on drawing page 16; (43) on drawing page 17; (62) on drawing pages 19 and 20) rotate passively relative to the resistance opposed by the treated material. This is because they are inserted freely and not in a fixed manner in the blades of the rotor without any transmission of the driving force. The rotation of the peripheral rollers around their own axis due to the resistance posed by the viscosity of the treated material is related to the movement of the material in relation to the rotor. Subsequently, there is no active percussive action on the material, lacks the centrifugal drive necessary to contrast the action of the central roller in order to avoid driving denser fluids to the outside. Consequently, an atomizing action is impossible.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,177,052 B1 has similarities with the present disclosure, but there is no claim to an atomizing function, nor is this function taken into consideration as a necessary part of the procedure. The device in question does not have this functional characteristic. It is derived from the gas purifiers, in which the substance that needs to react with the gas is inserted in the reactor in the form of a dry powder or a damp powder. The possibility of inserting a saturated solution of the reagent in liquid fluid form is not considered. The addition of water is considered only in order to renew the dampness of the reactive powder and not for the formation of a liquid mixture.
There is a claim to the presence of flexible swirling elements on axes rotating parallel to one another. They produce the whirling movement in the gas mixture to be purified and of the reactive powder which may be preventively humidified.
The following are not claimed at all:    a) The need for the ends of the flexible elements to be as close as possible to the adjacent rotating axes.    b) The need to pass narrowly between two consecutive planes of the flexible elements of the adjacent axes including the two essential characteristics in order to avoid peripheral marginalization caused by the centrifugal force of the denser components, and therefore essential in order to avoid the separation of denser components from less dense components (gas), and generating the atomization of a liquid fluid in the presence of a gas.    c) The need to be set up in the greatest possible number of consecutive levels so that the mixture is struck, running along the reactor as frequently as possible.    d) The need for the elements to be sufficiently rigid, so that they do not bend when striking the non-nebulized liquid. Chains are mentioned in the patent in question.
Furthermore, they do not describe the need for a central axis surrounded by peripheral axes so as to cause the contrast of a central centrifugal force with peripheral centrifugal forces of the same entity as the central force. This avoids the tendency of the denser fluid, in case of a lack of a central axis, to occupy an area common to the ranges of action of the axes set up in a circle (see FIG. 2B in U.S. Pat. No. 6,177,052 B1). They evidently do not describe the need for a number of these peripheral axes to be six for the centrifugal forces to be the same.
The result causes a whirling motion in the powder in the presence of the gas, but not the nebulization in the presence of gas or liquid. Further, proof of their failure to consider the need to atomize a liquid fluid, is represented in the drawings on pages 4-6. In these drawings, the axes are not parallel, but perpendicular to the current. Thus, liquid fluid would accumulates at the bottom, allowing gas to flow through the area situated above without interaction.
The atomization function claimed in the present disclosure and not disclosed in the aforementioned patents associated with a mixing function is of fundamental importance since it allows for an significant increase in the surface area contact between the liquid fluid and the gaseous fluid, as well as the possibility for the gaseous fluid to flow rapidly between the particles of the nebulized liquid, thus driving them at the same time out of the nebulization chamber. The terms ‘neubulization’ and ‘atomization’ is used interchangeably herein in the present disclosure.